Seven Strategies for Effective Influencer Marketing

Many of today’s top brands use influencer marketing to promote new products and campaigns. It is a tried and tested marketing strategy that delivers results in gaining traction for new brands to get recognition or for existing brands to gain a new set of customers. When done right, making use of influencers to head your campaign can drive staggering numbers in boosting a brand’s audience or getting more engagement for your best products. To have the best chance of success, however, brands need to take note of these seven strategies for effective influencer marketing:

Set a goal.

No matter the marketing strategy brands may use in their campaigns; it’s hard to measure success without first having a goal in mind. It is important for businesses first to understand what they want to accomplish. Many of today’s brands are often after gaining new recognition, getting more traffic for their social media or main website, attracting a target audience or getting more followers. No matter what it is that the brand needs, it is vital to identify this before finding an influencer to partner with. By first outlining your goals for the campaign, you can pinpoint exactly what to measure for success.

Find an Influencer that fits your needs.

There is no shortage of available influencers that you can work out there. If your brand is looking to get more exposure, drive more traffic to your website and get more likes for your social media pages, it is ideal to work with influencers who already have a strong following themselves. It may be best for brands to partner with known personalities or celebrities to capitalize on their follower base and get the most exposure for your brand. These influencers can get your brand or products noticed quickly. For brands looking to improve their organic reach, it is best to partner with micro-influencers who may have fewer followers but have more engagement with their audience. This ensures your brand can attract the right followers who have the best potential to be with you in the long term.

Learn more about your influencers.

It is important for brands to understand exactly what these influencers can offer them by learning more about what they do best and what market they most relate to. Often, these influencers already know what works best for them and their followers so they may not be open to working with brands that do not fit into the mindset they are projecting on their social media channels. For the best chance of landing an agreeable deal, brands need to do their homework and learn more about their chosen influencers to make it easier for them to reach out and initiate contact with the influencer.

Initiate contact.

quickly identify what channels they can use to initiate contact. This means influencers who work their magic best through Twitter should also be sent private messages through Twitter. The same goes for YouTube influencers or those who have the most engagement through Facebook. It is important to remember that they are influencers for a reason and this means many other brands may have already tried to get in touch with them. To avoid getting your messages lost in their inbox, brands need to find a way to stand out through flashy subject lines or a message that is short and to the point.

Make the offer.

Working with a great influencer means they can deliver the results you need that benefits them and your brand. Working with brands solidifies an influencer’s status as a trusted authority in their area and brands can make the most of the influencer’s social media following and use the engagement their audience offers to boost awareness for your brand. Brands and the influencers they choose need to be able to establish this agreement early on to ensure both parties can make the most of the agreed terms. Many influencers post content regularly to their social media channels to update their followers. Their posted content may not always get the engagement you need to get your brand recognized. It is essential for brands to come to terms with compensation through the results their content can deliver. For example, brands can measure the number of clicks to the link posted, track content shares and engagement for their post or identify how many followers from their channels they can get to convert.

Eshtablish a Relationship.

Once they have agreed to your terms, working with them means continuously aiming to create a trusting relationship with them. This means they need to be able to understand what your goals are and what you want to be able to accomplish. Timelines need to be set as to how long you want the campaign to last. It is also critical for brands to learn from the influencers and share ideas. Chances are they know their audience better and would probably have something to say as to what content their followers will best respond to.

Measure results.

Being able to set goals at the onset of the campaign makes it easier to identify what to track and how to measure success. Being able to work with the right influencer ensures you know exactly what to expect from them. By keeping abreast with the campaign and analyzing the result, can your brand determine how you can improve your marketing strategy?

These tips can help brands come up with an effective strategy to make influencer marketing work for them. There’s a reason why today’s top brands continue to work with trusted social media influencers to get new products moving or connect with a new audience. Bu like most marketing strategies, they do come with a price and so doing your research and first getting down to the basics in identifying what you want to accomplish helps drive your success.

Charlotte McCleary is a message-centric brand strategist who works with the marketing teams of start-ups and young companies to streamline their market positioning and message. When not crafting blue prints for marketers she is a key note speaker and personal branding coach.